Shloka 83
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
जहाँ किसी विशेष अर्थको अभीष्ट मानकर उसके दोषों और गुणोंकी विभागपूर्वक गणना की जाती है, उस अर्थको संख्या अथवा सांख्य समझना चाहिये ।।
yatra kasyacid artha-viśeṣasya doṣa-guṇa-vibhāga-pūrvakaṃ gaṇanaṃ kriyate, tam arthaṃ saṅkhyā athavā sāṅkhyaṃ veditavyam. idaṃ pūrvam idaṃ paścād vaktavyaṃ yad vivakṣitam | krama-yogaṃ tam apy āhur vākyaṃ vākya-vido janāḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「ある特定の意図された意味を、まずその過失と功徳とに分け、ついで秩序立てて数え上げ列挙して考察するなら、その方法は『サンキヤ（数）』あるいは『サーンキヤ』と理解すべきである。同様に、『これを先に述べ、これを後に述べる』といって、述べるべき点を順序に配列することも、言説をわきまえる学者たちは、言葉の規律ある秩序—教示における整然たる段階的進行—と呼ぶのである。」
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma defines an analytic method: when a topic is clarified by separating merits and faults and enumerating them systematically, it is ‘Saṅkhyā/Sāṅkhya’. He also stresses krama (sequence): teaching should present points in a deliberate order—what comes first and what follows—so the intended meaning becomes clear.
In the Shanti Parva’s instructional setting, Bhishma is explaining to his listener(s) how philosophical and ethical instruction should be structured—by classification, enumeration, and orderly progression of statements—so that dharma and related teachings are communicated precisely.